


Sleep Well, Bucky

by capitalR



Series: Snapshots [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, F/M, Touch-Starved Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:36:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29718684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/capitalR/pseuds/capitalR
Summary: Bucky has been stressed. Dawn just wants to help.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Snapshots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2184081
Kudos: 15





	Sleep Well, Bucky

**Author's Note:**

> This is apparently part one in a completely unorganized series of a story about Bucky Barnes and a girl named Dawn.

Dawn knew Bucky was stressed. It was obvious in the tight line of his jaw, the stiffness in his shoulders. The dark circles under his hard eyes. She knew he was having nightmares, and she didn’t know how to help. She hated just having to sit there and watch him suffer. She knew comfort in soft touches, hugs, things Bucky wouldn’t allow himself to have, but clearly craved. She saw it in his face when she and Sam would touch each other freely, whether it be a joking caress of the cheek, a squeeze of the hand, a friendly pat to the thigh.

Bucky had his boundaries and reservations, Dawn knew that. She respected it. She only ever touched him with a single finger if she had to. But she couldn’t deal with him making himself miserable, shying away from any sort of comfort and stalking around hotel rooms, stewing in his own self deprecation.

She couldn’t take it anymore. Bucky needed someone to care for him, especially if he wouldn’t do it himself. So she came up with a plan.

She had left him in the hotel room watching tv, and came back a while later with a plastic bag in hand. He looked from her to the bag she held as she shut the door.

“What’s that?” he asked, curious.

“I have an idea,” she said brightly, placing the bag on the nearest counter and moving toward him. She leaned against the edge of the bed next to him.

“What’s your idea?” he asked, humoring her. She reached a hand out to him and pinched a strand of his hair between her fingers, tugging it lightly. He almost looked amused.

“I think we should cut your hair,” she said. He furrowed his brows and tilted his head at her, faux offense on his face.

“You think my hair looks that bad, huh?” he asked, half a grin on his lips. Dawn chuckled and rolled her eyes.

“No, not at all. Quite the opposite, really,” she said. Then her voice softened and she looked away from him as she spoke again. “I just... I think it might be good for you. Kind of like letting go of... things.” Bucky didn’t say anything, just watched her with an unreadable expression on his face.

“Only if you want to,” she rushed, awkward and suddenly nervous, taking his silence as a bad sign. “I like it long, really. Not that my opinion matters or anything, it’s your head after all. I think it would look good either way, but I just-“

“Okay,” he interrupted her anxious rambling, voice quiet, but enough to cut her off. Her eyes flicked back to his face.

“Okay?” she echoed. He grinned at her, a small thing, just barely tugging at the corners of his lips. He nodded once.

“Okay.”  


-

  
They posted up in the bathroom with the supplies Dawn had just bought. She had him sit on a low stool facing the mirror, and she set to work wetting his hair and running a brush through it, careful not to touch him too long. She wanted to ease him into it, work at a pace that might be comfortable for him.

“You’re not going to completely butcher me, are you?” he asked, looking at her reflection in the mirror. She gave him a look.

“Have a little faith in me, Bucky,” she said with a grin. “This isn’t my first rodeo.”

“Fine, fine,” he said, heaving a dramatic sigh. Dawn paused as she finished brushing his hair, casting him a thoughtful glance in the mirror. He rose a brow in question, but she didn’t say anything. She was afraid if she talked, she’d ruin it all. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and found her music app, finding a playlist she thought would work. She hit the play button and kept the volume low. Didn’t look at him as she placed the phone on the counter, afraid to see what his expression looked like. Music from well before her time flowed through the little speakers, and she got back to work, ignoring the heat in her cheeks as she felt his gaze on her.

She clipped away at his hair for a while, finding a basic shape to play off of before plugging in the electric shears, and they were quiet as the music played. She was brave enough to chance a glance in the mirror every once in a while, enough to watch his face slowly soften as he listened to the music. There was a far away look on his face as she cut, like he was lost in thought.

She let him stay in his head while she went to work with the electric shears, and she was done faster than she thought she would be, lost in her own head. Dawn set the shears down on the counter and almost hesitated before settling her fingers in the now short locks. She did a broad, gentle sweep through the strands with her fingertips, clearing away any stray bits left behind. It didn’t escape her notice as Bucky took in an aborted breath as she ran her fingers over his scalp. She paused for a very brief moment, quickly taking in his reaction. He didn’t seem angry. Just uncertain, stiff.

Hesitantly, meaningfully, she dragged her fingers back through his hair, using her nails to scratch lightly at his scalp. His eyes shut and his brows furrowed. He tried to keep the shuddered breath to himself.

“Does it look okay?” Dawn asked, soft. She pulled her fingers from his hair in order to let him focus. He opened his eyes and looked into the mirror, turning his head this way and that in consideration. She held her breath while he looked at his reflection. His eyes met hers.

“It looks great. Thank you, Dawn,” he said, a soft smile on his face as he touched his fingers to the short locks. She looked at his hair in the mirror, and lifted her hands back to his head, pulling her fingers back through slowly, contemplating her work, as the music continued to pump softy in the background, the smooth croon of a woman filling the air.

“I like it,” she said honestly, a bright smile on her face. Dawn would miss the long hair, of course, but she did like it short as well. He made it work. She pulled away from him after a moment, setting to work cleaning up the mess of hair littering the floor. After she finished cleaning up her mess, she left Bucky to shower and rid himself of any irritating shavings left behind.  


-

  
He didn’t fight against her touch, and Dawn didn’t know what to do with that. He seemed uneasy, that much was certain, but not unwelcoming. Dawn supposed that was as good a sign as any she was going to get. She settled in to watch tv, turning out all the lights aside from the lamp on Bucky’s bedside table. She kept the volume low. The air felt too fragile to break with something loud.

Dawn carefully kept her eyes glued to the tv once Bucky stepped out of the bathroom. She listened to him shuffle quietly around the room as he got settled in for bed, then took her own turn. She took her time under the stream, trying to rid herself of the residual nerves that pulsed through her the entire time she cut his hair.

When Dawn was done, she emerged from the bathroom warm and clean, comfortable in sweatpants and an old t shirt. It may have been a shirt that belonged to Bucky at one point, but they’d shared enough hotel rooms and baggage space that she couldn’t really be sure anymore. He was watching tv, absently petting at his head, eyes heavy. But the same tight line in his jaw remained, the same stiffness in his shoulders. He didn’t want to sleep. Not when a nightmare might be right around the corner.

Dawn was taken over by nerves all over again as she hesitated in the bathroom doorway. But looking at him strengthened her resolve and she padded quietly over to his bed, making brief eye contact as she shut off the lamp and hopped up next to him, pulling the covers over her legs. She turned her gaze to the television and ignored the fact that she could feel him watching her. If she pretended hard enough that it was a normal, every day thing, then maybe it wouldn’t be the scariest thing she’d ever done.

After a while, she shuffled down in the covers to meet him, turning on her side and propping her head up in the palm of her hand. When she looked at him, he was already watching her.

“You should sleep, Buck,” she said, almost whispered. She almost regretted shifting her position. They were so close, suddenly. It felt so personal. Intimate.

“I will,” he said, matching her tone. She grinned, small.

“No you won’t,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

He sighed, a rueful smile on his lips. “I’m fine, Donnie,” he tried. Her heart fluttered just a little at the nickname, but she ignored it. There were more important matters at hand. She wasn’t convinced.

They watched each other for a heavy moment, almost a battle of wills, then Dawn slowly, carefully reached a hand out, stroking feather light fingers down his cheek. His brows pinched together, a frown pulling at his lips.

“Dawn,” he whispered on a sigh. He sounded so tired, so sad. She let him pull away from her touch.

“Bucky,” she echoed. He didn’t meet her gaze, instead he stared somewhere over her shoulder. He swallowed thickly. She tried again, slow and careful, lifting her hand to brush her fingers through his hair. He shut his eyes, brows still pinched. It wasn’t a grimace, it didn’t seem like any dislike of her touch. He was probably just too afraid to look at her.

Dawn shut her own eyes and lazily ran her fingers through his short locks for a while, occasionally scratching at his scalp and the back of his neck. She made no move to do anything else. If this was all the comfort she was allowed to provide, then she would be okay with that. It was still progress. It was still Bucky letting himself have a human moment.

Dawn did it long enough that she was close to drifting off to sleep, but an unexpected feather light pressure on her waist woke her right back up. She was careful not to react for fear of ruining whatever Bucky was letting himself have. His hand rested on her waist, warm and barely there, for a long moment. The television suddenly seemed so loud. She opened her eyes to chance a glance at him and found his eyes already on her face. He looked absolutely terrified. The air between them was so fragile, Dawn was almost afraid to breathe wrong. She just watched him, took in the raw emotion playing on his face, and she could only imagine how hard it must have been for him to show her so much.

He curled his fingers a little tighter, then. Shuffled a little closer. Slowly, carefully, he moved in, and she moved with him. Their feet touched. She hooked her ankle between his. Eventually he had his arm looped fully around her waist, holding her body snug against his, using her as an anchor. She slipped her hand from the nape of his neck to tuck neatly around his side, nuzzling her nose into his neck as he buried his own in her hair.

They were quiet. His breaths were shaky. She could hear his pulse beating wildly, and she simply listened as it slowed over time. Eventually his breathing smoothed.

They stayed like that, just holding onto each other for a while, each of them hyper aware of any tiny movement. Then, with one more wave of movement, Bucky pulled her in tighter against him, held on like he was starving for such a simple thing. He let out a heavy sigh, Dawn wondering if she imagined how relieved the breath sounded. He dragged his hand up her back and buried his fingers in the hair at the nape of her neck, curled them into the strands. Sighed into her hair one more time, more gentle, more content. He scratched his fingers against her scalp purposefully to catch her attention.

“Goodnight, Donnie,” he whispered into her hair.

Her own feelings aside, Dawn was happy to just give him that. Something to hold onto. Something to make him feel a little more human. He deserved that.

“Sleep well, Bucky.”


End file.
